Reclaiming and conveying bucket



J. F. GODFREY.

RECLAIMING AND CONVEYING BUCKET. APPLICATION FILED AUG.23! 1920.

1 ,'-397,509, Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

- 26 J2 i T=LEL a1 .15 J1 PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN F. GODFREY, OF ELKHAR'I, INDIANA.

REGLAIMING AND CONVEYING BUCKET.

Application filed August 23, 1920.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN F. GODFREY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Elkhart, in the county of Elkhart and State of Indiana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Reclaiming and ConveyingBuckets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to reclaiming and conveying buckets, andparticularly to means for releasably locking the dump door thereof inclosed position in a manner whereby the door may be tripped for pumpingpurposes under certain predetermined conditions.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, durable andeflicient reclaiming and conveying bucket in which cooperating partsthereof are operated and controlled in a manner to meet the variousrequirements for successful commercial operation.

This and other objects are accomplished by means of the arrangementdisclosed on the accompanying sheet of drawings, in

which- Figure 1 is a side elevation;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view; and,

Fig. 3 is an end view of a preferred form of my reclaiming and conveyingbucket.

The various novel features of my invention will be apparent from thefollowing description and drawings and will be particularly pointed outin the appended claims.

Referring to the figures of the drawings, it

will be noted that the bucket includes a body portion 10 for receivingthe load, said body portion at one end being provided with a dump door11, which is pivotally connected at 12 to any suitable part of the body10.

The dump door 11 normally is held closed by a movably mounted latch 13,which is slidably carried in guide members 14 and 15 secured to theunder side of the door, said latch in its latching position engaging alatch hook 16 on a member 17 secured to the body of the bucket.Surrounding the latch 13 is a coiled spring 18, the outer end of whichis secured to the latch and the inner end of which is free with respectto same,

said spring being interposed and operative between the two guide members14 and 15 and normally holding the latch in locking position. Pivotallyconnected to the inner end of the latch 13 is a link 19, the inner endof which is pivotally connected at- 20 to an intermediate point of acontrol lever 21 Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

Serial No. 405,451.

the inner end of which is pivotally connected at 22 to the door 11. Theouter end of the control lever 21 extends outwardly away from the bottomof the door 11 for the purpose of passing into engagement with theground, or any other object, for tripping the latch 13, whereupon thedoor 11 swings open under the influence of a load in the body 10 fordumping purposes. When the load has been completely dumped, the door 11is returned to closed or latched position by oppositely arranged balancesprings 23, one end of each of which is operatively connected at thepoints24 to the dump door 11 and the other end of each of which isoperatively connected at points 25 to the body portion 10 of the bucket,said springs 23 preferably being located inside of the bucket. It willbe understood that as the door 11 is moved into closed position,thespring-pressed latch 13 automatically passes into engagement with itsas ociated latching hook 16 for locking the door in such position.

For loading the bucket, the same is provided with a variable draftmechanism, including a main central draft member 26 and a plurality ofside draft members 27. Preferably the draft member 26 is secured tosuitable reinforcing angle members 28 extending lengthwise along oneside of the bucket and is provided at one end with a plurality ofapertures 29 whereby the side draft members 2'? may be selectivelysecured thereto by means of a pin, bolt, or any other fastening mean 80,it being understood that said side draft members at their outer ends areprovided with correspcnding apertures 31. The side draft members 27 attheir inner ends are pivotally connected to the body portion 10 of thebucket, or to straps 32 carried thereby, said straps also havingplurality of apertures 35 for selectively receiving pivot pins whichpivot-ally connect the inner ends of the side draft members 2? to thebody portion of the bucket. By means of this draft mechanism, includingthe members 28 and 27, which may be secured to each other in a pluralityof different relative positions, and the side draft members 27 capableof being pivotally secured to the body portion of the bucket in aplurality of differ nt positions, a variable draft may be obtained tomeet all of the requirements encountered in commercial usage. Thedigging end of the bucket is provided with a plurality of teeth 35.

The Various parts of the bucket coo erate and are controlled to meet allof tie requirements for successful commercial usage. I

It is my intention to cover all modifications of the invention fallingWithin the spirit and scope of the following claims.

latch earried by said dump .door normally engagm'g said hook for holdingthe door in closed position and having an operating lever adapted to beoperated for permittlng the release of sald door for dumping purposes,by engagementwith the ground and V a balance spring operative betweensand body portion and door and mounted Within the bucketfor closing saiddoor after the load has been dumped.

' 2. A bucket of the class described including a body portion, a dumpdoor therefor, a releasable latch carried by said dump door normallyefi'ectlve for holding the door in closed position and upon beingoperated re leasing said door for dumping purposes, and a balance springcontained Within said body portion and operative betweensaid dump doorand body portion for returning said door to closed position after it hasbeen opened.

8. A bucket of the class described including a body portion, a dump doortherefor, releasable latch mechanism carried by said dump door fornormally holding the door in closed position, said mechanism including amovably mounted latch member, a latch guide therefor, a link pivotallyconnected to said latch, and a control member pivotally connectedto'said link.

at. A bucket of the class described including a body portion, a dumpdoor therefor, a plurality of draft members capable of being connectedto each other in a plurality of relativepositions and at least oneofsaid draft members capable of being connected to the body portion in aplurality of different posi-' tions for Varying the draft. 7

Signed at Elkhart, Indiana, this'l9th day of August, 1920.

JOHN F. GODFREY.

